ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown is trying to stop Florida lawmakers from redrawing her congressional district, saying their efforts will deny African-Americans political representation.
Brown and other black leaders in central Florida on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to intervene in the Florida Supreme Court decision that is causing lawmakers to begin redrawing the state’s congressional districts next week.
Brown says a plan to change her district from a north-south configuration stretching from Jacksonville to Orlando to an east-west district stretching from Jacksonville to Tallahassee would deny African-Americans a chance to participate in the political process.
State lawmakers are returning to the Capitol next week to redraw the congressional districts after the Supreme Court threw out the current map, saying it had been tainted by partisan influence.